bwping(8)                   System Manager's Manual                  bwping(8)

NAME
       bwping  and  bwping6  are tools to measure bandwidth and response times
       between two hosts using Internet Control Message Protocol  (ICMP)  echo
       request/echo reply mechanism.

SYNOPSIS
       bwping [ -4 | -6 ] [ -u buf_size ] [ -r reporting_period ] [ -T tos(v4)
       | traf_class(v6) ] [ -B bind_addr ]  -b  kbps  -s  pkt_size  -v  volume
       target

       bwping6  [  -4  |  -6  ]  [  -u buf_size ] [ -r reporting_period ] [ -T
       tos(v4) | traf_class(v6) ] [ -B bind_addr ]  -b  kbps  -s  pkt_size  -v
       volume target

OPTIONS
       -4   Forces IPv4 mode. Default mode of operation is IPv4 for bwping and
            IPv6 for bwping6 otherwise.

       -6   Forces IPv6 mode. Default mode of operation is IPv4 for bwping and
            IPv6 for bwping6 otherwise.

       -u buf_size
            Sets  the send/receive buffer size in bytes. Default value will be
            automatically calculated based on transfer speed, packet size  and
            host timer accuracy.

       -r reporting_period
            Sets the interval time in seconds between periodic bandwidth, RTT,
            and loss reports. If zero,  there  will  be  no  periodic  reports
            (default).

       -T tos(v4) | traf_class(v6)
            Sets  the TOS (in IPv4 mode) or Traffic Class (in IPv6 mode) value
            of outgoing ip packets. Default value is zero.

       -B bind_addr
            Sets the source address of outgoing ip  packets.  By  default  the
            address of the outgoing interface will be used.

       -b kbps
            Sets the transfer speed in kilobits per second.

       -s pkt_size
            Sets  the  size  of  ICMP  packet  (excluding IPv4/IPv6 header) in
            bytes.

       -v volume
            Sets the volume to transfer in bytes.

AUTHORS
       Oleg Derevenetz <oleg.derevenetz@gmail.com>

BUGS
       None known.

NOTES
       This utility uses raw sockets to  deal  with  ICMP  messages,  so  root
       privileges are required to run it.

       Although  bwping  and  bwping6 does not require any special software on
       the remote host (only the ability  to  respond  on  ICMP  echo  request
       messages),   there   are   some   special   requirements   to   network
       infrastructure, local and remote host performance:

       1. There should be no ICMP echo request/reply filtering on the network.
       This includes QoS mechanisms (which often affects ICMP) at any point in
       the testing path;

       2. Local host should have  enough  CPU  resources  to  send  ICMP  echo
       request  messages  with  given  rate,  and  remote  host should quickly
       respond on these messages and should have no  ICMP  bandwidth  limiting
       turned on.

       If  some  of  these  requirements  are  not satisfied, then measurement
       results will be inadequate or fail completely. In general, for  testing
       bandwidth  where  QoS  is  implemented,  always  test with traffic that
       matches the QoS class to be tested.

SEE ALSO
       netstat(1), ping(8)

                                                                     bwping(8)
